Moving On
by lezonne
Summary: Harry that has a dream telling him it's time to move on from his ex. Written for the Jury of Your Peers Challenge (non-canon), the Pairing Set Boot Camp prompt #24 and the Dream Challenge.


Written for the _Jury of Your Peers Challenge _(non-canon), the _Pairing Set Boot Camp prompt _#24 (Harry/Hermione), and the _Dream Challenge. _

Moving On

* * *

The first thing Harry noticed was that he was in a beautiful wasteland- a white wasteland decorated in snow.

The second thing he noticed was that he was wearing pajamas, and he wasn't cold. That was a bit odd.

The third thing was that there was a redhead sitting out on a glacier- a rather large one- floating about in the ocean. He ran forward until he came to the edge of a cliff, a journey that should've taken a long time but didn't.

It was Ginny. What was she doing on an iceberg?

"Hello Harry," she said, floating along in her pajamas as well. The iceberg was moving quite fast in the non-existent current. "It's so nice to see you."

He looked around, thinking this entire experience had to be something out of a dream. It had to be- since the sky was bright but there were no sun or clouds.

"Ginny, what's going on?"

She shrugged, standing in her long nightgown. He'd never seen her wear a nightgown before, knowing that she hated them. It hurt to think about those types of things, considering that they only broke up a few days ago. That's another reason why he thought this had to be a dream- he and Ginny weren't currently talking to each other, much less civilly.

She stepped back further on the iceberg, and he almost jumped forward to grab her. It looked for a moment like she was going to tumble into the frigid sea. "Are you mad at me?" she asked, tilting her head.

Of course he was mad at her. She dumped him for Justin! But he wasn't sure that this was the time to bring such topics up. "Er, no."

She pointed a finger at him. "You're lying. We both know you're mad Harry, and heartbroken. I didn't let you off easy."

"Well, I thought that we were actually in a good relationship," he muttered sourly. "Apparently, I'm the only one who enjoyed what we had."

"You're so bitter about it," she said crossing her arms. "You're the most eligible man in Britain right now- probably forever. Don't mope around, go out and meet a girl! They're already throwing themselves at you."

"I don't want to date a girl just because she's willing to go out with me," he said, eyebrows drawing together. "If I'm going to date someone, then I want to date them because I actually feel something for them."

"Then date Hermione. We both know you've always had a little crush on her."

Harry's eyebrows shot up, and he felt a blush creeping onto his cheeks. "Hermione? Don't be silly-"

"Harry," she said soothingly, crossing her arms. "Don't lie. You always fancied her, even before she broke up with my brother. Probably before she even got with my brother. You would compare us sometimes when we went on dates. What girl likes to be treated like that? Admit it, you've liked Hermione for a while now."

He closed his eyes. So what if he liked Hermione? It was none of Ginny's business now that she'd dumped him. He shouldn't be ashamed to admit that he always thought of Hermione as more than a friend.

But she felt like forbidden territory. Ron's ex, and his best friend? It would be awkward if things didn't work out, and probably awkward when people saw them together too. How would he explain a situation like that? Sure, he could tell people the truth that he liked her, but how far would people dig? He'd been friends with Hermione for a long time now. He knew people would wonder how long he'd liked her- including Hermione. Unlike Ron, he didn't make his desire for her quite so obvious.

When he opened his eyes Ginny wasn't on the iceberg anymore. In fact it wasn't even moving anymore. He looked around him, wondering where she'd gone. Then he saw two figures off in the distance, and froze a moment to stare.

Long red hair, long legs- it was Ginny, and she was walking away with Justin. Yet Harry's heart didn't crumble at the sight of them walking off happily together. He even thought that they looked kind of nice together.

The dream had to be doing something to his head. He didn't think he'd have that same opinion if asked when awake. He was still mad at her, after all.

"They make a beautiful couple," someone said, startling him. He jumped, spinning around. Harry would know that voice anywhere. "It's a shame she had to break your heart just to be with him."

"Hermione?" he asked, staring at the woman. She wore a pretty sundress, a complete polar-opposite from his pajamas. He felt underdressed in her presence. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," she began, shooting him a knowing look, "You seemed rather lonely. I thought I might come and see you. After all, it's not like you need to depressively wander off all alone."

"I'm not depressed."

"No," she agreed, "but you are lonely. So I came to keep you company."

"Really now?"

"Yes." She titled her head to the side. "Do you really need to stay hooked to Ginny forever? Come on now, she's old news for you. She made her choice, so you should make yours. Don't let her get the upper hand just because she dumped you. Make her see how happy you are to be with someone new." She reached forward, boldly grasping his hand. "Someone like me."

His head was spinning a mile a minute processing what she was saying. "But-"

"Shh," she said, placing a gentle finger over his lips. "No buts, just get up the courage to ask me out. You'll never know how I feel about you if you don't."

She had a point, though he couldn't believe he was actually listening to a dream's advice. Before he could ask her another question, a new voice entered the conversation.

"Harry mate, get up. We slept through the alarm…"

* * *

He opened his eyes slowly back into reality. The canopy above his bed was the first thing he saw, and the second was Ron getting dressed in a hurry. The other roommates were doing the same, and he realized that after their game last night none of them thought to reset the alarm.

He was partially depressed to be awake. The dream was starting to head in a good direction when Ron woke him up. Sitting up groggily, he replayed what he could of the dream in his mind's eye. He wished Hermione had been wearing pajamas too instead of that modest dress.

Yeah, the man inside him definitely had an idea for how that dream could've ended.

"What time is it?" he asked, throwing on a shirt. When he got no response, he glanced at the clock. Breakfast would be halfway over by now. No wonder everyone was scrambling to get out the door. They wanted to get some food before their morning classes.

Harry however saw a different opportunity as he looked at the time. Hermione usually only stayed in the Great Hall for the first half of breakfast, then went up to the library for some mid-morning reading and studying before class. She would be up there now, all alone and cozied up with a good book…

Maybe it was time to try something new. After all, he didn't really see himself getting back together with Ginny after their rough break-up.

"Harry, hurry up," Ron reminded, sliding on his shoes. "Get some bloody trousers on."

"You go on ahead Ron," he replied, searching for a better shirt. His friend arched an eyebrow, wondering what was going on.

"But… aren't you hungry?"

"Yeah, I'll meet you down there," Harry replied, shooing his friend away. Shrugging, Ron left with rest of his roommates, while Harry prepared to put some effort into his appearance today.

He wanted to try something new. And that included asking out Hermione.


End file.
